Joe Cinque

Joseph V. "Joe" Cinque (born c. 1938) is an American felon and mobster. He is CEO and president of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS).

Cinque has been known by the nicknames "the Preppy Don" and "Joey No Socks". In an April 1995 profile in New York magazine, Cinque was described as a "small-time mobster, a scam artist and an art fence."

In 1980, Cinque was shot three times and left for dead. While Cinque described the incident as a robbery, officials indicated it was likely an attempted contract killing by the mafia.

Cinque was arrested in 1989 on felony charges when stolen art was found in his apartment. After police used a battering ram to gain access to his home, they found 40 works of art, including pieces by Joan Miró and Frederick Remington. Among the artworks were three pieces that had been stolen from Manhattan galleries in April. Cinque had two signed Marc Chagall prints in his possession that were valued at over $20,000 each and were stolen from the Center Art Gallery. He also had a $9000 sculpture by Cecille Schatzberg that had been stolen from the Lever Brothers Gallery. Authorities investigated Cinque's alleged role as a fence for an art theft ring. He was initially charged with criminal possession of stolen property. After an informant relayed a conversation that Cinque had with Gambino boss John Gotti where Gotti said that he would "take care of the D.A." and the D.A.'s office was informed that Cinque had been dealing drugs out of his apartment, a felony charge was sought. Cinque pleaded guilty but did not serve any jail time. Cinque had previously been arrested for criminal possession of stolen property, insurance fraud, and grand larceny. In a memoir, New York plastic surgeon Richard Lawrence Dombroff related that Cinque said he had purchased stolen jewelry and stayed out of prison because he worked as an informant for the government.

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